1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor package and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a semiconductor package that has a reduced thickness.
2. History of Related Art
It is conventional in the electronic industry to encapsulate one or more semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuit dies, or chips, in a semiconductor package. These plastic packages protect a chip from environmental hazards, and provide a method and apparatus for electrically and mechanically attaching the chip to an intended device. Recently, such semiconductor packages have included metal leadframes for supporting an integrated circuit chip which is bonded to a chip paddle region formed centrally therein. Bond wires which electrically connect pads on the integrated circuit chip to individual leads of the leadframe are then incorporated. A hard plastic encapsulating material, or encapsulant, which covers the bond wire, the integrated circuit chip and other components, forms the exterior of the package. A primary focus in this design is to provide the chip with adequate protection from the external environment in a reliable and effective manner.
As set forth above, the semiconductor package therein described incorporates a leadframe as the central supporting structure of such a package. A portion of the leadframe completely surrounded by the plastic encapsulant is internal to the package. Portions of the leadframe extend internally from the package and are then used to connect the package externally. More information relative to leadframe technology may be found in Chapter 8 of the book Micro Electronics Packaging Handbook, (1989), edited by R. Tummala and E. Rymaszewski. This book is published by Van Nostrand Reinhold, 115 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y., which is herein incorporated by reference.
Once the integrated circuit chips have been produced and encapsulated in semiconductor packages described above, they may be used in a wide variety of electronic appliances. The variety of electronic devices utilizing semiconductor packages has grown dramatically in recent years. These devices include cellular phones, portable computers, etc. Each of these devices typically include a motherboard on which a significant number of such semiconductor packages are secured to provide multiple electronic functions. These electronic appliances are typically manufactured in reduced sizes and at reduced costs, which has resulted in increased consumer demand. Accordingly, not only are semiconductor chips highly integrated, but also semiconductor packages are highly miniaturized with an increased level of package mounting density.
According to such miniaturization tendency, semiconductor packages, which transmit electrical signals from semiconductor chips to motherboards and support the semiconductor chips on the motherboards, have been designed to have a size of about 1xc3x971 mm to 10xc3x9710 mm.
One obstacle to reducing the thickness of conventional semiconductor packages is the internal leads are as thick as the chip paddle. Under the condition that the thickness of the internal leads is identical to that of the chip paddle, the bond pads on the semiconductor chip that is mounted onto the chip paddle are positioned at a far higher level than are the internal leads, so that the loop height of the conductive wires for connecting the semiconductor chip and the internal leads is elevated. The loop height results in an increase in a wire sweeping phenomenon that is caused by pressure of an encapsulation material during encapsulation of the package components.
Previously, techniques for reducing the thickness of semiconductor packages have been utilized, such as back-grinding techniques in which a semiconductor chip is ground down before being mounted on a chip paddle. The back-grinding process, however, deleteriously affects the semiconductor chip. For example, a semiconductor chip that is thinned in this manner is apt to undergo warping, which may result in damaging the internal integrated circuits. In addition, the semiconductor chip itself may be cracked during the back-grinding.
The various embodiments of the present invention provide a semiconductor package that is extremely thin without the need for conducting a back-grinding process or at least for reducing the amount of back-grinding that is required. In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor package comprising a semiconductor chip provided with a plurality of bond pads, a chip paddle bonded to the bottom surface of the semiconductor chip via an adhesive, a plurality of leads formed at regular intervals along the perimeter of the chip paddle and conductive wires for electrically connecting the bond pads of the semiconductor chip to the leads. A package body comprises the semiconductor chip, the conductive wires, the chip paddle and the leads that are preferably encapsulated by an encapsulation material. The chip paddle, the leads and the tie bars are externally exposed at their side surfaces and bottom surfaces. The chip paddle is half-etched over the entire upper surface of the chip paddle, which results in a thinner: thickness than the leads. In one embodiment of the present invention, the half-etched chip paddle is about 25-75% as thick as the leads. Accordingly, by half-etching the entire upper surface of the chip paddle, the chip paddle itself is made thinner than the leads, leading to the slimming of the semiconductor package.